How To Install MySQL on Debian 9 (Stretch)

MySQL is the most popular relational database management system. As an assumption MySQL is used by every third website running on www. MySQL installation on a Linux is very straightforward. You can simply install MySQL on a Debian system from its base repositories. But The Debian team replaced MySQL with MariaDB as the default database from Debian 9 Stretch. This tutorial will help you to install MySQL on Debian 9 systems with the latest MySQL version.

Step 1 – Prerequisites

Login to your Debian 9 system using shell access. For remote systems connect with SSH. Windows users can use Putty or other alternatives applications for SSH connection.

ssh [email protected]

Run below commands to upgrade the current packages to the latest version.

sudo apt update 
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2 – Configure MySQL PPA

MySQL team provides official MySQL PPA for Debian Linux. You can download and install the package on your Debian system, which will add PPA file to your system. Run below command to enable PPA.

wget http://repo.mysql.com/mysql-apt-config_0.8.13-1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i mysql-apt-config_0.8.13-1_all.deb

During the installation of MySQL apt config package, It will prompt to select MySQL version to install. Select the MySQL 5.7 or 5.6 option to install on your system.

Step 3 – Install MySQL on Debian 9

Your system is ready for the MySQL installation. Run the following commands to install MySQL on a Debian machine.

sudo apt update 
sudo apt install mysql-server

The installation process will prompt for the root password to set as default. Input a secure password and same to confirm password window. This will be MySQL root user password required to log in to MySQL server.

Step 4 – Secure MySQL Installation

Execute the below command on your system to make security changes on your Database server. This will prompt some questions. The do the high security provide all answers to yes.

First start the MysQL service if not started:

sudo systemctl restart mysql

Then run below command:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Step 5 – Connect MySQL

The MySQL server has been installed on your system. Now connect to the MySQL database using the command line.

mysql -u root -p

Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor.  Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 5
Server version: 5.7.21 MySQL Community Server (GPL)

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